Classroom Configuration

May 2014

Dear Montessori Parents:

As we announced on April15, 2014, to accommodate our growing student population,beginning the 2014-2015 school year we will be fully utilizing both South Campus (2910 Sterrettania Road) and North Campus (606 Raspberry Street) with Kindergarten through 6th grade classrooms. Once the transition is complete, your child will stay at one campus for the remainder of their MRCS education.

We have now made the Classroom teacher placements for the new configuration as follows:

South Campus

2910 Sterrettania Road

Kindergarten

Lisa
Mueller

New
Teacher – TBA

New
Teacher – TBA

6-9 Classrooms (Grade 1-3)

Annette
Hotchkiss

Kimberly
Williams

Shannon
McGinnis

Tina
Williams

Rebecca
Schauffele

9-12 Classrooms (Grade 4-6)

Mark
Zielinski

Marci
Musgrove

Marcella
Smith

North Campus

606 Raspberry Street

Kindergarten

Tammy Purchase

New Teacher – TBA

6-9 Classrooms (Grade 1-3)

Ashley
Migdal

Kathy
DeDad

Kelly
Zimmerman

Jill
Duncan

9-12 Classrooms (Grade 4-6)

Nick
Renaud

Bethany
Norris

In placing students in the
North or South location, our decisions are student and family centered.First, we ensured that there was minimal
disruption to the classroom community that exists in the three year cycle. Next
we considered the family proximity to the respective campuses.

Guidelines for Campus Placement Decisions

Students currently in Grade 1, 2, 4 and 5 will follow their teacher to the new location.

Note: There are a small number of students who will be split between
the campuses due to teacher placement. Those families will receive
individual letters regarding student placement.

Students currently in “Move Up” grades - Kindergarten and third grade
will be placed in their new classrooms based on the following criteria:

Students who have siblings in Grade 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be placed in the same building as their sibling.

Student
with no siblings will be placed based on academic and social
considerations (see prior page) and family proximity to campus.

As always, "Move Up" placements will be announced on August 18, 2014 at the back to School Family meeting. This includes new Kindergarten students, Kindergarten to first grade and third to fourth grade.

Placement of students is a thoughtful and deliberative process at MRCS. In considering placement, we keep the individual student's needs in mind to facilitate a balanced,safe and empowering classroom environment. The classroom placement will reflect the student's academic needs, range of ages,social dynamics,family relationships,ratio of boys/girls, teacher feedback and the personalities and learning/teaching style of the student and teachers.

During the summer we will be focusing on preparing both campuses for the full complement of students including preparing classrooms, ensuring up to date technology is available at the proper levels and installing appropriate playground equipment at both facilities. (Thank You PTO and all who have supported the PTO!)

Finally,I want to also thank all of you for the overwhelming support we have received over the past year. This was a year of tremendous achievement as the Pennsylvania Department of Education posted the first School Performance Profile scores which ranked MRCS as the top scoring elementary school in Erie and Millcreek and in the top 5% of all Pennsylvania elementary schools. This is a tribute to the collaboration between students, faculty staff and families at MRCS and a mutual focus on the importance of education in your child's life.

Further,our Charter was unanimously renewed by both the Erie and Millcreek School districts as they acknowledged that we had met our academic,financial and legal Charter goals and obligations. While other area schools, including other charter schools, have academically and financially struggled, MRCS is an example of a high achieving effective school,focused on student achievement and driven by parent choice.

We will continue to update you over the summer as to our progress. Please be sure to check our website for current information (like the 2014-2015 School Calendar just posted). Also, look for information about our first MRCS family night at the Erie Seawolves Park on August 19th featuring free admission for MRCS students!

Also, I encourage all families to consider our Summer Childcare/Camp Program beginning June 23rd. As you may know,children lose an average of 2.6 months of grade level in math and reading over the summer months. Our program is designed to keep students in educational, physical activities and FUN. Filled with games, field trips and academics, we guarantee your child will never be bored! As with all of our programs,we offer the program as a low cost service to our students and families. Our "profit" is the growth anddevelopment of our students. Sessions are filling fast and registration will close on June 6th.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at office@mrcserie.org. Please allow two business days for us to respond to your question thoroughly.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful summer. We look forward to seeing everyone on August18th for our Back to School Family meeting.